Plex can't find audio in a particular DVVIDEO file

Plex Media Server
1

Hi all,

I have my home videos in raw DV video format with PCM S16 LE audio. Plex plays all of them (on my Firestick 4K and on my PC when I access the library via the web interface - I guess that’s the Plex Media player?) except one fine - for the bad file, Plex cannot find audio. The problem file seems to have the all of the same attributes as good files using the same codecs. VLC plays the “bad” file fine and shows the same codecs for the bad file and all of the good files.

The Plex file info XML metadata shows that the good files have 2 audio streams and bad file has none. I’ve tried removing the file from the library, then re-adding it - still no audio found; and I’ve tried “analyze” and “refresh metadata” options for the file - no change, still no audio found.

I don’t understand why Plex is not finding audio for the one file. I’m out of ideas - anything else I can try?

Thanks for any help!

Good file information when I click the video from the library when using Plex web server on my PC:
VIDEO 480i (DVVIDEO)
AUDIO Unknown (PCM Stereo)

Bad file information when I click the video from the library when using Plex web server on my PC:
VIDEO 480i (DVVIDEO)
AUDIO None

Good file XML metadata:

<MediaContainer size="1" allowSync="1" identifier="com.plexapp.plugins.library" librarySectionID="6" librarySectionTitle="Home Movies" librarySectionUUID="2dbd0005-7cbb-41ef-b3d9-73547bfc0fa6" mediaTagPrefix="/system/bundle/media/flags/" mediaTagVersion="1598507574">
<Video ratingKey="16608" key="/library/metadata/16608" guid="com.plexapp.agents.none://685d999a1f906de29db3b82e9cc81ffeed7930cf?lang=xn" type="movie" title="2012-01-21-2012-04-15" librarySectionTitle="Home Movies" librarySectionID="6" librarySectionKey="/library/sections/6" summary="" year="2015" thumb="/library/metadata/16608/thumb/1599359993" art="/library/metadata/16608/art/1599359993" duration="3750279" originallyAvailableAt="2015-12-21" addedAt="1450709500" updatedAt="1599359993" createdAtAccuracy="epoch" createdAtTZOffset="-18000">
<Media id="13714" duration="3750279" bitrate="30819" width="720" height="480" aspectRatio="1.78" audioChannels="2" audioCodec="pcm" videoCodec="dvvideo" videoResolution="480" container="avi" videoFrameRate="NTSC" audioProfile="pcm_s16le">
<Part accessible="1" exists="1" id="13714" key="/library/parts/13714/1450709500/file.avi" duration="3750279" file="D:\Users\X\Videos\Home Videos\2012-01-21-2012-04-15.avi" size="13524428800" audioProfile="pcm_s16le" container="avi" deepAnalysisVersion="4" requiredBandwidths="30811,30801,30779,30779,30779,30779,30779,30779">
<Stream id="10707" streamType="1" codec="dvvideo" index="0" bitrate="28771" anamorphic="1" bitDepth="8" chromaLocation="topleft" chromaSubsampling="4:1:1" frameRate="29.970" height="480" pixelAspectRatio="32:27" refFrames="1" requiredBandwidths="28763,28753,28734,28734,28734,28734,28734,28734" scanType="interlaced" width="720" displayTitle="480i (DVVIDEO)" extendedDisplayTitle="480i (DVVIDEO)"/>
<Stream id="10708" streamType="2" selected="1" codec="pcm" index="1" channels="2" bitrate="1024" audioChannelLayout="stereo" profile="pcm_s16le" requiredBandwidths="1023,1023,1023,1023,1023,1023,1023,1023" samplingRate="32000" displayTitle="Unknown (PCM Stereo)" extendedDisplayTitle="Unknown (PCM Stereo)"/>
<Stream id="10709" streamType="2" codec="pcm" index="2" channels="2" bitrate="1024" audioChannelLayout="stereo" profile="pcm_s16le" requiredBandwidths="1023,1023,1023,1023,1023,1023,1023,1023" samplingRate="32000" displayTitle="Unknown (PCM Stereo)" extendedDisplayTitle="Unknown (PCM Stereo)"/>
</Part>
</Media>
<Extras size="0"> </Extras>
<Related> </Related>
</Video>
</MediaContainer>

Bad file XML metadata:

<MediaContainer size="1" allowSync="1" identifier="com.plexapp.plugins.library" librarySectionID="6" librarySectionTitle="Home Movies" librarySectionUUID="2dbd0005-7cbb-41ef-b3d9-73547bfc0fa6" mediaTagPrefix="/system/bundle/media/flags/" mediaTagVersion="1598507574">
<Video ratingKey="33376" key="/library/metadata/33376" guid="com.plexapp.agents.none://070a7635f276b9d881e9798e498432a3102b8514?lang=xn" type="movie" title="2012-05-29-2012-12-09" librarySectionTitle="Home Movies" librarySectionID="6" librarySectionKey="/library/sections/6" summary="" userRating="8.0" lastRatedAt="1599359491" year="2015" thumb="/library/metadata/33376/thumb/1599584344" art="/library/metadata/33376/art/1599584344" duration="3010441" originallyAvailableAt="2015-12-21" addedAt="1599359787" updatedAt="1599584344" createdAtAccuracy="epoch" createdAtTZOffset="-14400">
<Media id="32334" duration="3010441" bitrate="28850" width="720" height="480" aspectRatio="1.33" videoCodec="dvvideo" videoResolution="480" container="avi" videoFrameRate="NTSC">
<Part accessible="1" exists="1" id="36172" key="/library/parts/36172/1450742242/file.avi" duration="3010441" file="D:\Users\X\Videos\Home Videos\2012-05-29-2012-12-09.avi" size="10856411136" container="avi" deepAnalysisVersion="4" requiredBandwidths="30808,30796,30769,30769,30769,30769,30769,30769">
<Stream id="63983" streamType="1" selected="1" codec="dvvideo" index="0" bitrate="25000" anamorphic="1" bitDepth="8" chromaLocation="topleft" chromaSubsampling="4:1:1" codedHeight="480" codedWidth="720" frameRate="29.970" height="480" pixelAspectRatio="8:9" refFrames="1" requiredBandwidths="28760,28748,28724,28724,28724,28724,28724,28724" scanType="interlaced" width="720" displayTitle="480i (DVVIDEO)" extendedDisplayTitle="480i (DVVIDEO)"/>
</Part>
</Media>
<Extras size="0"> </Extras>
<Related> </Related>
</Video>
</MediaContainer>

Server Version#: 1.20.1.3252
Player Version#: 4.34.4 (also happens on Firestick 4k - but I don’t think the player matters in this case)

2

No, that’s the “web app”.
The real Plex Media Player

Inspect your file with an external media info software, like this one: https://mediaarea.net/en/MediaInfo

Once it is installed, analyse the file, then go to:
File - Export - Text (Advanced mode)

3

Thanks for the help!

Nothing jumped out at me unfortunately… Any red flags you see?

Good:

General
Complete name                            : D:\Users\X\Videos\Home Videos\2012-01-21-2012-04-15.avi
Format                                   : AVI
Format/Info                              : Audio Video Interleave
Commercial name                          : DVCPRO
Format profile                           : OpenDML
File size                                : 12.6 GiB
Duration                                 : 1 h 2 min
Overall bit rate mode                    : Constant
Overall bit rate                         : 28.8 Mb/s
Recorded date                            : 2012-01-21 17:28:14.000

Video
ID                                       : 0
Format                                   : DV
Commercial name                          : DVCPRO
Duration                                 : 1 h 2 min
Bit rate mode                            : Constant
Bit rate                                 : 24.4 Mb/s
Width                                    : 720 pixels
Height                                   : 480 pixels
Display aspect ratio                     : 16:9
Frame rate mode                          : Constant
Frame rate                               : 29.970 (29970/1000) FPS
Standard                                 : NTSC
Color space                              : YUV
Chroma subsampling                       : 4:1:1
Bit depth                                : 8 bits
Scan type                                : Interlaced
Scan order                               : Bottom Field First
Compression mode                         : Lossy
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)                       : 2.357
Time code of first frame                 : 00:00:00;02
Time code source                         : Subcode time code
Stream size                              : 12.6 GiB (100%)
Encoding settings                        : ae mode=full automatic / wb mode=automatic / white balance= / fcm=manual focus

Audio #1
ID                                       : 0-0
Format                                   : PCM
Format settings                          : Big / Signed
Muxing mode                              : DV
Muxing mode, more info                   : Muxed in Video #1
Duration                                 : 1 h 2 min
Bit rate mode                            : Constant
Bit rate                                 : 768 kb/s
Channel(s)                               : 2 channels
Sampling rate                            : 32.0 kHz
Bit depth                                : 12 bits
Stream size                              : 343 MiB (3%)

Audio #2
ID                                       : 0-1
Format                                   : PCM
Format settings                          : Big / Signed
Muxing mode                              : DV
Muxing mode, more info                   : Muxed in Video #1
Duration                                 : 1 h 2 min
Bit rate mode                            : Constant
Bit rate                                 : 768 kb/s
Channel(s)                               : 2 channels
Sampling rate                            : 32.0 kHz
Bit depth                                : 12 bits
Stream size                              : 343 MiB (3%)

Bad:

General
Complete name                            : D:\Users\X\Videos\Home Videos\2012-05-29-2012-12-09.avi
Format                                   : AVI
Format/Info                              : Audio Video Interleave
Commercial name                          : DVCPRO
Format profile                           : OpenDML
File size                                : 10.1 GiB
Duration                                 : 50 min 10 s
Overall bit rate mode                    : Constant
Overall bit rate                         : 28.9 Mb/s
Recorded date                            : 2012-12-09 20:15:27.000

Video
ID                                       : 0
Format                                   : DV
Commercial name                          : DVCPRO
Duration                                 : 50 min 10 s
Bit rate mode                            : Constant
Bit rate                                 : 24.4 Mb/s
Width                                    : 720 pixels
Height                                   : 480 pixels
Display aspect ratio                     : 16:9
Frame rate mode                          : Constant
Frame rate                               : 29.970 (29970/1000) FPS
Standard                                 : NTSC
Color space                              : YUV
Chroma subsampling                       : 4:1:1
Bit depth                                : 8 bits
Scan type                                : Interlaced
Scan order                               : Bottom Field First
Compression mode                         : Lossy
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)                       : 2.357
Time code of first frame                 : 00:49:25;29
Time code source                         : Subcode time code
Stream size                              : 10.1 GiB (100%)
Encoding settings                        : ae mode=full automatic / wb mode=automatic / white balance= / fcm=manual focus

Audio #1
ID                                       : 0-0
Format                                   : PCM
Format settings                          : Big / Signed
Muxing mode                              : DV
Muxing mode, more info                   : Muxed in Video #1
Duration                                 : 50 min 10 s
Bit rate mode                            : Constant
Bit rate                                 : 768 kb/s
Channel(s)                               : 2 channels
Sampling rate                            : 32.0 kHz
Bit depth                                : 12 bits
Stream size                              : 276 MiB (3%)

Audio #2
ID                                       : 0-1
Format                                   : PCM
Format settings                          : Big / Signed
Muxing mode                              : DV
Muxing mode, more info                   : Muxed in Video #1
Duration                                 : 50 min 10 s
Bit rate mode                            : Constant
Bit rate                                 : 768 kb/s
Channel(s)                               : 2 channels
Sampling rate                            : 32.0 kHz
Bit depth                                : 12 bits
Stream size                              : 276 MiB (3%)
4

Could you send me a short snippet of such a file?
(upload to Google Drive if it’s too large and send me the download link per PM)
I’d like to forward this to the developers.

Alternatively, you could just drag the file into MKVtoolnixGUI, then press “Start Multiplexing”.

Add the resulting MKV file to your library instead.
(This operation will retain the full quality of the original file)

5

It looks like MKVtoolnixGUI doesn’t like my raw DV format:
“The file ‘2012-05-29-2012-12-09 - Copy.avi’ was not recognized as a supported format (exit code: 2).”

Since the bad file is a family video I’m hesitant to upload the whole thing (it’s 10GB too - I’m not sure I can fit it in my Google drive). I tried splitting it with a program I had installed already (Mp4Splitter) so I could upload a small piece, but the resulting files have no audio tracks - apparently a lot of programs don’t like raw DV…

Any suggestions on a program that can extract a small clip from the video?

6

Try the DD and the ffmpeg methods: https://support.plex.tv/articles/201035968-generating-sample-files-from-media/

7

ffmpeg generated a file that didn’t have audio, but I was able to use dd to generate a mildly corrupted avi file. VLC and the Plex web app think it’s 50 minutes even though it’s only 12 seconds long, but they do both play the 12 seconds successfully. Like before VLC plays the 12s OK with sound and the codecs show up correctly; Plex plays the video but says the file has no audio.

I’m going to send you the PM now. Please let me know if I can gather any logs that might help. Thanks again for the help.

8

Thank you for the sample files!
I’ve found almost no other software which could successfully play this. VLC appears to be the exception here.

I’ve forwarded the file and filed a bug report.

10

No, thank you for your help and volunteering your time to help strangers like me :slight_smile:

You’ve got a good point about the file not being playable by other players (I’ve used nothing but VLC for so long now I really don’t have anything else - WMP doesn’t seem to like any of the raw DV files). Maybe the file is really corrupted and VLC is just forgiving when playing it. I’ll see if I can find that camera and the old DV tapes - and the firewire cable (I hope I still have it! It’s an old camera) and try to pull the video onto my computer again. Maybe this time it will make a legitimate file.

I’ll let you know what I find - not sure how quick I’ll be able to do it though…

11

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